Cadet Life

The Basics

Army ROTC training consists of less than ten hours a week, allowing cadets to focus on their course work and other extracurricular activities that they may be involved in. All cadets participate in physical training Monday through Wednesday and on Fridays for one hour each day. In the classroom, Army leaders instruct cadets on leadership, ethics, Army values, and other critical skills once a week. On Thursdays, cadets put the lessons they learned in the classroom to the test for two hours during leadership lab. Finally, cadets travel to the field for two weekends a semester to develop leadership traits in realistic training. Army ROTC’s minimal time requirements supports cadets to excel inside and outside of the classroom.

Basic and Advanced Course

Army ROTC instruction is divided between the basic and the advanced course. The basic course spans the first two years of Army ROTC. Cadets in the basic course learn fundamental military skills, the Army Values, and other leadership traits. If cadets enroll in Army ROTC with only two or three years remaining in college, cadets take the Leader’s Training Course (LTC) in Fort Knox, Kentucky, in order to move onto the advanced course. During the school week, ROTC training occupies approximately 7-8 hours a week for cadets in the basic course.

Army ROTC’s advanced course consists of the final two years. Cadets in the advanced course learn advanced military tactics, ethics, and further develop their leadership ability through increased responsibilities and assignments. Cadets travel to Fort Lewis, WA, for Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) in the summer between their junior and senior year of college. LDAC instructs and assesses cadets from across the country on leadership skills and military tasks. The advanced course has increased time requirements and cadets enrolled in this course spend approximately nine hours in ROTC training a week.